Job Prospects for someone with a Marine Biology or Zoology degree?

College Majors
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I really enjoy learning, reading, or just watching anything about marine animals/ reptiles and amphibians, and I’m thinking in majoring in one of these degrees (once I reach college). I was just curious as to what job prospects could come from these degrees? I tried researching on Google (to limited results) and decided to bring my question here.

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Find colleges with degrees in animal science /zoology or marine biology / sciences which seems more your thing. Then search their career outcomes.

Just some examples - for animal science and some may be pre vet, UCONN shows 41% employed, 37% going to grad school, 20% still seeking with a $45k average. I don’t know the count. Not enough data for marine sciences other than 60% employed .

U Washington marine biology shows (2024) 52% employed, 19% part time, 16% seeking employment, 10% volunteering.

Marine science at UC Berkeley - 40% continuing education, 20% employed, 20% seeking.20% other. But that’s only 5 grads.

If you really want to know, and I don’t know what year you are, but as you visit colleges, make an appointment to talk to a related department and speak with a prof or advisor. That’s a great way to learn more

You might also check bios of people in jobs of interest in LinkedIn.

These are often specialty type jobs, maybe at non profits or labs / animal care centers I would also look deeper into job duties. Reading about these things is far different than working in the area.

If you read a schools major page on marine science or bio, you’ll learn a lot - schools like UNCW, College of Charleston, Duke, Eckerd, Oregon State etc. Look at classes and more. There is both marine science and marine biology. I added a zoology too. The indeed page may be helpful too.

Good luck

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Thanks for the info!

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My D19 graduated with a degree in Marine Biology from UCLA. She is currently in her 3rd year of veterinary school. My D19 had no idea entering college what she wanted to do beyond undergrad other than she was very interested in Marine Biology. After doing several internships she decided on veterinary school. Good luck with your decision!

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Do you know what her prospects were - had she not chosen Vet school? What type of internships did she have? What did she do in them? Do you know (or maybe she can tell you) what others in her major did after graduation?

That might help OP.

Thanks

OP - this is from 2023 (2022-2023) (UCLA) with a 78% knowledge rate - so they captured a bit more than 3 of 4 grads. It is not marine bio but L&S life sciences - its school. I don’t see it by major. It’s several years old so take that into account and its all L&S science majors - but it shows from an initial success POV, the sciences aren’t easy but often end up in grad school. It doesn’t say much about marine science - but I’m sure the school can get you detailed data (any school). Life sciences include:

UCLA doesn’t show by major outcomes that I can see but says about Marine Biology: Career Outcomes : Graduates can pursue careers in various areas, including marine research, environmental conservation, wildlife management, and aquaculture. Opportunities exist in government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations focused on marine and environmental protection.

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I know three people with these degrees - One totally pivoted, got an MBA and is working for a company. One works for a wildlife sanctuary/zoo. The other is doing grad work in conservation and wants to teach and do research in their field.

We were on an expedition cruise this summer and we had a team of naturalists on board that led the excursions, did lectures, and drove the zodiacs and nearly all of them had some kind of animal or marine biology degrees. We had a couple of historians and anthropologists too.

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She interned at an aquarium and she had an internship helping rescue sea lions. All of her friends who were in her major went on to grad school. 3 went to veterinary school. She had always planned to go on to grad school but did not know which direction. Out of curiosity she did research jobs available in her field post undergrad. She found several which were $50k-$75k a year with a bachelors degree in marine bio.

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Thanks. Hopefully helpful to OP

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I live in a coastal town and there is a fulltime staff person who covers marshes, tidal pools, and beaches. The issues are really complicated- for example, ongoing debates around the type of salt to use when it snows and sleets (like this week)– the run-off has some very dangerous effects on marine life in the area, but of course, if you don’t salt adequately someone’s going to run their car off the road and go over an embankment. I know they work a lot with the EPA and other federal agencies. We aren’t an agricultural place (very urban) but I know that there are marine biologists who work with Dept of Agriculture and the farming community on a wide range of environmental issues.

We almost had a visit from the Marine Bio team when expanding our deck (believe it or not). The survey report on our property was very clear- but as you can imagine, the contours of “where does the wetlands start and end” varies by season, by year, after heavy rainfall, etc. We opted for a very conservative expansion which left plenty or room no matter how you interpreted the map, but we have neighbors who’ve gotten into trouble by encroaching on “non-buildable land” with marshland and the wildlife which depends on it for habitat.

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OK this is based on our personal experience. Our middle child, in early high school, wanted to major in marine biology and she had some opportunities to volunteer with our local marine biologists.
She also chose to volunteer with our vet. We found out that our vet majored in marine biology but couldn’t find a job back then, so went onto grad school and became a vet. Our vet said that there were only so many locations that could support a career in marine biology.

What was really telling was when we were in Hawaii on a snorkel tour. We overheard one of the crew speaking about majoring in marine biology. She indicated that most of the staff on the boat had majored in marine biology.

Apparently, the staff member had had difficulty in finding a job in marine biology, on the mainland, so she came out to Hawaii. Most of the job entailed taking care of us by serving food and helping with snorkels.

This was years ago so I don’t know how much has changed in the industry. You may want to check with the Bureau of Labor Statistics. You can check available salaries and employment statistics.

Needless to say OUR daughter completely changed her major to something more marketable in pharmacology.

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I wonder if it gets worse with the current administration. That doesn’t mean investment won’t come back in the future.

For OP, I think they really need to understand/see what these folks do. Maybe they can go reach out to an acquarium or marine biologist somewhere to find out.

It’s one thing to say “I really enjoy learning, reading, or just watching anything about marine animals/ reptiles and amphibians” and another to make a career in it.

It might be a hobby - sports was my hobby. I wanted to work in it. Epic fail - but I’m also better off for it not happening. I ended up not loving sports for years.

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Since you are just starting to explore these careers, see if your local public library offers these databases: Career Cruising and Ferguson’s Career Guidance. Both do a good job in giving information about specific careers and other closely related careers, what skills they need, what the job entails, day in the life, pay, etc. If you can’t get access to those, check out onetonline.org , they have similar information, just not presented as well.

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Thanks to everyone for their input! And I’ll definitely look into some of those things.

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